(AN: For disclaimer, see my profile.)
SOTS-1-02-02
Soul of the Seal - Story 1 - Arc 2 - Chapter 2
Chapter 2 - "Fog You!"
The morning of day 4, C-rank mission: Escort to the Land of Waves, squad seven.
The morning fog was quite heavy on the east coast of Fire Country, as six people in a small motor boat were crossing the waters, heading to Wave Country. But the motor was off as the local fisherman quietly rowed the boat carrying Tazuna, Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke.
Naruto was at the front of the boat trying to see ahead.
"Sheesh. When Kyaena-chan said the fog would be bad, she wasn't kidding." He said, squinting to try to see more than about thirty feet in front of them.
"T-told you..." Kyaena whimpered. She was huddled as far back in the seal cage as she could get, half-buried in pillows as she trembled. "Just t-tell me when you... when we're b-back on solid ground..."
'Don't worry, it won't take much longer.' Naruto tried to comfort her.
Sakura was also failing to see beyond a few dozen feet from the boat.
"Yeah, it's so thick it's hard to tell we're even going anywhere. If it wasn't for the water itself..." Sakura looked down and watched the water ripple as the low-riding boat moved forward.
"We'll be able to see the bridge any minute now." The boatman said quietly. "As soon as you set foot on the other shore, you'll be in the Land of Waves."
The boat moved in silence for another minute, until the morning light began to cut through the fog, slightly, and a huge shadow loomed over them. They looked up, and up, and up, as the unfinished end of the bridge came into view. Even from their low angle from nearly under the bridge, slightly to the left, the group could see scaffolding, piles of materials, and even a crane or two, up on the bridge where construction was still to be done.
"Daaaaaaaaammmmnnn." Naruto drawled out in shock at the size of it. Sakura, in a moment of inspiration, struck.
"No, it's a briiiiiiiidggggge." She snickered as Naruto shot her a look.
"Laaaaaaaame." Naruto grumbled at the poor joke.
"ACHOO!" Sasuke's sneeze made everyone jump.
"Hey, keep it down!" The boatman hissed urgently. "The whole point of moving through the dense morning fog was so we wouldn't be spotted. But it doesn't do any good if they hear us!" He whispered as harshly as he could. "Why do you think we're going like this? Turning the motor off and rowing? And it's bad enough that we're barely afloat as it is with all your stuff!" He referred to the fact that when they had first gotten in, the boat had nearly sunk from the weight. No one understood why, though. It shouldn't have been that much.
"Sorry. I think some sea salt got in my nose." Sasuke muttered as he took out a handkerchief and blew.
Naruto was looking back at the boatman.
"And who might 'they' be?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi turned to Tazuna.
"Indeed. I think I've been more than patient enough, Tazuna-san." Kakashi stared hard at their 'employer'. "Before we reach the pier, it's time for you to provide some answers. The men that are after you. I need to know why." His voice took on a sharper tone of absolution. "If you don't tell us... I'll have to end our mission when we drop you ashore. That was the technical limit of this assignment. Protecting you until you reached the Land of Waves, which we have. Guarding you while you complete the bridge was left to my discretion."
Tazuna slowly looked up from under his hat. A look of resignation on his face.
"It seems I have no choice but to tell-... No... I want you to know the truth." Tazuna gave a single glance at Naruto before returning to Kakashi. "It's as you said before. This is beyond the scope of the mission that you started out on. The one who targets my life, is a very short man who casts a very long and deadly shadow." Tazuna muttered grimly.
"Are you taking another jab at me?" Naruto huffed, crossing his arms.
Kakashi gave him a glare, to which Naruto just returned with a 'I-was-just-asking' shrug.
"A deadly shadow?" Kakashi asked, turning back to the old man. "And who is it?"
"You know him. Or at least you must've heard his name before." Tazuna grumbled with all seriousness. "He's a businessman in the field of marine transportation. His name is Gato."
"You mean... Gato? Of Gato Shipping and Transport!?" Kakashi's eye widened in surprise. "THE Gato!? There are many rumors that say he's the richest man in the world!"
"Yes. The very same." Tazuna nodded slowly. "On the surface he may appear to be a legitimate business man. But below the surface... he's a ruthless murdering criminal who employs gangs and hires ninja to take over businesses and ruin countries. He uses his businesses as cover to traffic in anything and everything you can call illegal. Weapons, contraband, drugs... even slaves. He lives by every low and vicious trade known to humanity."
"Sounds like a royal-class dirtbag dipped in a scum-bucket." Naruto growled.
"It was just a little more than about one year ago... that he set his sights on the Land of Waves." Tazuna nodded. "He used his wealth and his violence to enter our country, and before anyone realized what was happening, he had seized total control of our transport and shipping."
"Of course he would have to." Naruto shook his head. "In a country that is all a bunch of islands grouped together, that is the best and only way to control-"
"Hey, are you going to tell this story or what?" Tazuna glared at the blonde, who slumped slightly.
"Well excuse me for wanting to help." Naruto grumbled.
"...When Gato came into our country, any who stood in his way simply... disappeared." Tazuna continued when he noted Naruto's silence. "And yes, the little snot is right. In an island nation, the man who controls the sea, controls everything from finance to government, our very lives. But even Gato has his fears, and what he fears most is... the bridge." Tazuna glanced up at the erection of engineering. "Once it is complete, it will join our country to the mainland and that will break Gato's control. I am the bridge builder."
Everyone sat silent for a moment.
"So that's what it's all about." Sakura nodded slowly, though she was frowning slightly. "You're the one with the knowledge of how to complete the bridge, so it's you that is standing in this gangster's way."
"Which means the two ninja from before, must have been working for Gato." Sasuke commented evenly, but was grinning on the inside at the thought of such serious and challenging opponents.
"But that still doesn't answer the question." Kakashi cut in. "If you knew all this, knew Gato was dangerous, knew he would send ninja to eliminate you... Why did you hide that information from us when you contracted our services?"
"Haven't you been listening?" Tazuna frowned at the jounin. "Our country has never been a major metropolis, and ever since Gato arrived, we've been reduced to nearly nothing. Famine is gripping the people. We are poor to the point of emptiness. Even our nobles have little money, and what little they and the rest of us have hangs in the balance in the building of the bridge." He sighed with some humiliation. "To put it simply, we common people who are undertaking this task, couldn't afford an A or even B rank mission. They were too expensive." The builder looked up at the ninja in front of him. "If you end this mission and abandon me when you set me ashore, there will be no bridge. I will surly be assassinated before I can even reach my home."
Tazuna's confidence of his impending death hung in the silence.
'I don't like the fact that he lied to begin with, but...' Naruto was thinking with some depression, 'If things are really as bad as he says...'
"But of course, none of that is your concern." Tazuna said with a surprisingly sudden casualness. "It's not like you'll be there to see my grandson cry himself to hysteria. So what if my daughter vows eternal hatred to the Konoha ninja that abandoned me as she is forces to live her life all alone?" He gestured nonchalantly. "It's not your fault, so just forget the whole mess."
The four ninja were all staring at him with slightly dark clouds hanging over their heads.
"Ok, now your laying it on a little thick." Naruto growled then turned to look for Kakashi's decision.
Kakashi noted Naruto's stare, which was joined immediately after by Sakura.
"Oh dear." The jounin sighed as he scratched lightly at the top of his Hitai-ate. "Well, it seems we have no choice but to continue protecting you." He shrugged as Naruto and Sakura nodded in agreement.
"Really?" Tazuna said with the utmost innocence. "That's so wonderful, I can't tell you how grateful I am!" The old man snuck a look behind him to the smirking boatman to discreetly flash a 'V'. 'We win!' The old engineer thought gleefully.
The boat moved on a bit more until the boatman raised his head a bit in attention.
"We're almost there. Just under this walkway and past the mangroves, we'll reach the pier." He said, drawing everyone's attention to the stone arched wall-like feature they were approaching.
Progressing through a short tunnel under it, they emerged on the other side to a small inlet lake, with some buildings along parts of the bank, and a few trees popping up here and there out of the water.
Naruto couldn't help but smile slightly at the sight, but also noticed the unfortunate lack of any sort of noise that should have accompanied the awakening town in the morning. As they approached their drop point, the ninja all noted that the buildings were hardly that. Most were plain wooden shacks that were considerably worn out. Reaching the short wooden dock, they climbed out of the boat, causing it to nearly jump out of the water. Tazuna and the boatman exchanged farewells, and confused glances, before the man kicked on the motor and quickly directed his boat away.
"Ok. Now if I can just reach my home safely..." Tazuna said.
"Which one is it?" Naruto asked, looking around the lake.
"It's not here. It's a bit ways inland." Tazuna shook his head.
"Inland. Inland is good." Kyaena nodded shakily, finally coming out from the corner of her 'room' as she allowed herself to relax.
They started onward down the small road through the forested area. Kakashi was considering the next stage of the mission.
'The next attack won't be by chunin. It'll be an elite jounin, without a doubt. A man like Gato would pay for results.' Kakashi thought as a worried frown hid under his mask. 'At worst, it would be an entire squad of jounin, or two. Gato could certainly afford it. If that happens, I'll have no choice but to get the team out of here as quickly as possible, and hope that the enemy would be satisfied with only stopping Tazuna-san and the bridge.' Kakashi didn't like the idea of failing a mission, no elite ninja would. But if worse came to worse, he knew what he would have to do, and the Hokage and the Fire Daimyo would deal with the political mater with Wave Country in their own ways.
The group continued for a while in silence. Naruto at point, followed by Sasuke and Sakura behind to either side, then Kakashi walking next to Tazuna. How Naruto kept winding up on point was a strange matter that no one even noticed or gave any thought about.
Naruto was just keeping on watch ahead, but then a smirking Sasuke, having increased his pace a bit, came up along side the blonde.
"What the hell are you smirking about?" Naruto muttered to his dark-haired teammate.
"Just thinking about the next time I'll get to see your pathetic displays of cowardice." Sasuke muttered back.
"As I recall," Naruto's brow tensed in annoyance, "You were the one who had the enemy chunin pinned with their own chain, then was so clumsy as to released them in your sloppy movements. Whereas I-" Naruto stopped mid-breath, both in word and in motion as his head snapped to the side, his eyes darting back and forth over the bushes at the right side of the road.
Everyone jerked to a stop, with Tazuna going ridged in mild panic.
"Naruto? What is it?" Kakashi asked seriously as his hand reached for his shuriken. He noticed Naruto slowly frown with confusion as he stared into the underbrush.
"...Nothing, I guess. Sorry about that, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said slowly as he turned to continue walking.
Kakashi couldn't help but smirk hearing the blonde's adressment of him. It had been a nice little victory for his progress of the team...
(KAKASHI'S FLASHBACK)
It was the morning after the day of the enemy chunin attack. Kakashi was already up, with the sun only minutes away from rising over the horizon. Just as he was about to wake the others, he noticed Naruto already standing up, moving over to him.
"Um... Hey." Naruto started out nervously.
"Good morning." Kakashi eye-smiled.
Naruto stood silent, fidgeting slightly. Just before Kakashi could ask...
"ImSorryIveBeenSoDisrespectfulToYouItWasAMistakeBu tIRealizedIWasWrongSoImSorry!" Naruto blurted out with a speed that was difficult to believe.
"...What?" Kakashi blinked, having a bit of trouble untangling his student's outburst.
"I... I said I'm sorry." Naruto repeated, giving a nervous glance at the others, checking that they were still asleep. "After what happened yesterday... I'm used to being in danger, it's just the way my life has been. But, when I thought you had been killed..." Naruto's head drooped. "I had completely forgotten that you're out here, risking your life too. So even though we didn't start out on the best of circumstances-" Kakashi winced, "-It doesn't change the fact that you're a leaf-nin as well. So I should at least be treating you with the respect deserving of a comrade. But I haven't been doing that." Naruto shuffled his feet a bit. "... Do you understand what I'm saying?" He asked numbly, keeping his gaze on the ground.
Kakashi was stunned. He had been only to aware of Naruto's less than cooperative attitude in the past months, and the jounin had been wondering how he was ever going to earn the boys respect. Now same boy was apologizing for his behavior, with no small amount of difficulty Kakashi noted, and wanted to set things right.
'So all it took to earn his respect was for him to think I was dead.' Kakashi had to fight the urge to sweat-drop. 'It would have been better for the team if he had done it in front of the others,' Kakashi glanced at his two other sleeping students, 'But considering what I've managed to learn about his history from a few discreet sources, it's no wonder it's so hard for him to trust anyone. There's no way I'm going to press the issue. Just be glad for what I can get.' Kakashi turned another eye-smile to Naruto as he ruffled the boy's hair a bit. "It's ok, Naruto. Learning is what being a genin is all about. It's why I'm here." He handed the surprised boy a canteen. "Don't dwell on past mistakes. I doubt Kyaena-chan would appreciate such thoughts interfering in your training efficiency. Now, why don't you wake the others so we can get on with our mission?"
Naruto, after a moment of surprise at having been let off the hook so easily, was all smiles.
"No problem Sensei!" He beamed, taking a drink of the canteen as he walked over to the others.
Kakashi only realized his mistake too late when Naruto poured water onto Sasuke.
'...Well... At least he didn't do it to Sakura...' Kakashi freely sweat-dropped this time as he watched the suddenly very awake and yelling people in front of him.
(END KAKASHI'S FLASHBACK)
Kakashi was still musing on such thoughts, not really noticing that his employer next to him was steaming with severe irritation.
"STOP TRYING TO SCARE ME YOU SCRUFFY LITTLE DWARF!" Tazuna roared out. Needless to say, he didn't like being rattled for no reason.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A DWARF YOU STINKY OLD TROLL!?" Naruto roared back. Needless to say, he was getting tired of the 'short' cracks.
"Insults are the least of your worries when you try to go showing off." Sasuke continued to smirk, which made Naruto turn on him.
"I AM NOT SHOWING OFF!" Naruto shouted out his frustration. "I'm trying to stay on guard! So excuse me if I'm a little-"
WHOOOSH-THUNK/THUNK/THUNK
Everyone jumped again when Naruto had spun in place, throwing three kunai into the bushes to the left of the road. A place that Kakashi's own attention had shifted to.
"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed out with growing anger. "Stop trying to-, HEY! Naruto, wait a minute!" She had called as the blonde ignored her, racing over to the bushes where his kunai had gone.
The others watched as Naruto ripped aside the brush, only to freeze up and go pale.
"OH NO MERCIFUL ARCEUS! WHAT HAVE I DONE!?" Naruto wailed in horror.
That certainly got everyone's attention, as they rushed over to see what had happened. They gathered around behind Naruto to look...
...Only to see a white rabbit twitching in shock at the base of a tree, the three kunai surrounding it's head so closely that they were actually holding it in place.
"AHH! Naruto, how could you!?" Sakura cried out in anguish over the poor cute animal's predicament.
"It was just a rodent-I mean, rabbit?" Tazuna corrected himself because of Sakura's harsh glare.
Naruto hurried to yank out and store the kunai as he pulled the rabbit into a frantic cradling hug.
"I'm so sorry little bunny! I'm so very sorry! I didn't mean to scare you! I have no idea how this happened!" Naruto babbled as he swung the rabbit back and forth in a crushing embrace. 'But I know I felt a death threat! What happened!?' He thought.
"We'll figure out that later!" Kyaena said with wide gleeful eyes. "For now, we've got a yummy rabbit lunch ahead of us!" She licked her teeth.
'WHAT!? NO WAY! Don't even think that! I've already hurt this poor bunny enough!' Naruto denied furiously as he continued to squeeze the animal, who was having its own thoughts...
'Help! Help! This giant talking carrot that smells like a fox is squishing me to death! HEEEELLLLLP!' The rabbit cried in misery.
Somewhere in the Konoha forest, a ribbon-adorned cat gave a few snuffling sneezes... which alerted the genin squad that was chasing it through the foliage.
Back with squad seven, even as Naruto lamented his actions, and Sakura kept trying to get him to let go of the poor critter, Kakashi's attention was elsewhere.
'You didn't make a mistake, Naruto.' Kakashi was thinking as his gaze meticulously scanned the surrounding area. 'I felt that flash of KI as well... And that's a snow rabbit. And seeing as it has its white winter coat, which couldn't happen if it were a native animal to this area, it had to have been raised indoors... just for use with a Substitution Jutsu. Now the question, where did the enemy go after that?' Kakashi continued to look around.
Up in the trees a little distance from the traveling group, an increasingly irked mist-nin was watching.
'It's no wonder the Akuma Brothers failed against this group.' The man scowled behind his own facial mask of bandages. 'That jounin... It's the infamous 'Copy-nin' from the Hidden Leaf. Kakashi of the Sharingan.' He reached to his back to grip the handle of his giant sword. 'And the three with him... They're not wearing the traditional chunin vests of the Leaf, which means their just genin. And yet...' His eyes narrowed on the bright color eye-sore of the bunch. 'That blonde brat was able to sense both my movements! They must be real ninja potentials for Kakashi to have them as students. But it still won't matter in the end.' He adjusted his stance on the branches he was in as he readied for an attack...
The genin in question were still a bit distracted, especially Naruto, who was fighting with himself.
"Pweeeze, Naru-kun!?" Kyaena was pouting with as much sweetness as she could manage. "You've never even tried fresh rabbit! You've never had the chance! But if you could just taste the irresistibly tender meat... It's not like I'm asking you to eat it raw or anything!" She whined even as she was drooling at having a delicious morsel so close, yet so far away.
'No way! Not going to happen! You know I don't like hurting animals needlessly!' Naruto snapped back. 'I've gotten used to fishing over time, so you should be happy with that! I'm not about to start going out and hunting-'
Naruto stopped as his eyes snapped wide and Kyaena tensed up. There was no mistake this time. He quickly stood, startling Sakura who had been standing over him.
"Naruto? Wha-" She blinked at his sudden action.
"Here Sakura-san, catch." Naruto said as he tossed the rabbit at her.
"Waaa! Naruto, don't-!" Sakura yeeked as she lunged to catch the fluffy animal, which Naruto had deliberately aimed just out of her reach. The rabbit managed to squirm out of her hands as she fell to the ground with a thud. The rabbit ran off into the bushes-
"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" Kakashi yelled out to the group as he tackled Tazuna to the ground. Sasuke instantly dove down, and Sakura, who was already on the ground, gave a squeak as she curled into a ball.
VUFF/VUFF/VUFF/VUFF-SPAAANNNG-SCRRRRCHHH
The four people on the ground looked up after a moment, and their eyes widened at the sight. Sakura couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Naruto, standing just a few feet from her, was still standing. And he was now holding a huge sword horizontally in front of himself by the blade between the flats of his hands. Sakura looked down, seeing the scuffs on the ground when Naruto had been pushed back at least two feet from the impact.
"Na-... Naruto?" Sakura barely managed to breath out as she slowly stood up, as were the others. "H-how... How did you DO that?" She gaped at him as he was beginning to examine his catch.
"With lots of practice, unfortunately..." Naruto muttered sourly under his breath, not really noticing the strange look on her face.
The others had gotten to their feet, and quickly came over to Naruto and Sakura.
"Naruto! Are you alright?" Kakashi asked with urgent worry, trying to see if the blonde had hurt his hands.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." Naruto shrugged off the concern as he hefted up the weapon in his hands, now holding it straight up by its handle. It was at least three times as long as Naruto was tall. Naruto gave a whistle as he looked up at it. "Now that's a knife!"
"Yes it is. And I want it back." A menacing voice growled out.
Everyone turned to see a tall shirtless man step out from behind a giant tree that was only a few feet from a small lake that was ahead of them. How did they not notice the body of water? Well, they had been a bit preoccupied...
"Oh crap..." Tazuna muttered, making sure that his ninja were between him and the other ninja.
Kakashi immediately placed himself between his students and his new enemy.
"Give me that sword, boy." Zabuza veritably snarled at the blonde. "And I'll make your death quick."
"Umm..." Naruto seemed to think, looking up at the blade before looking back. "I'm thinking... no."
"THAT WASN'T A CHOICE!" Zabuza howled in outrage, his hands clenching at his sides. 'I can't believe that little freak caught my blade! Now I have a real problem...' He eyed the group in front of him as he did a mental count of the limited other weapons he was carrying.
"You know, Naruto-kun," Kyaena growled out thoughtfully, "It's been a while since you practiced your sword forms. Why don't you give this nice blade a spin... around his head?"
'You think? Hmm...' Naruto eyed the enemy as he tightened his grip on the sword handle.
Kakashi noted the contemplative look on Naruto's face, and decided to interject before things got bad.
"Well well, if it isn't Zabuza Momochi. Rouge ninja of the Hidden Mist village." Kakashi announced as he pulled out a kunai with his right hand.
"Did you say... rouge ninja?" Naruto said as his eyes narrowed at the now perceived traitor-to-his-own-village, and his grip tightened even further on the sword handle, causing the few leather wraps to creak in protest. Sasuke glanced at him.
"Don't, Naruto." Kakashi warned, holding out his left hand to prevent the blonde from charging forward. "This one isn't like the first two. He's on a different level. Even without his sword."
"My sword. Give it to me boy, or I'll tear you apart slowly!" Zabuza demanded again, this time letting loose a blast of KI at the blonde.
Sakura, Tazuna and Sasuke all gasped and fell back a step from the feeling, but Naruto just stared back at the mist-nin unflinchingly.
"Getting a bit mad, are we?" Kakashi snipped.
'What is going on here!? That can't be any ordinary boy...' Zabuza thought angrily at the boy's failure to crumble under his stare.
"Well, if you're miffed already, you'll love this." Kakashi barely turned his head to get Naruto's attention. "Naruto, destroy that sword."
"WHHAAAT!?" Zabuza roared, shifting into a striking ready stance, to which Kakashi also shifted his stance.
"What?" Naruto blinked in surprise, and even Kyaena was a little thrown by the order. "But... A weapon is a weapon. Don't you want to use it, or-"
"No, Naruto. It's HIS weapon of choice. Even if I were to try to use it, if he managed to get it back..." Kakashi left his statement hang, hoping Naruto would get the hint.
"Oh, yeah. I get it." Naruto nodded looking at the weapon in his hands again. He gave a sigh. "What a waste."
Naruto suddenly brought the sword down to slap it flat against the ground as he held the grip, brought his foot up...
"NO!" Zabuza howled as he saw Naruto's foot come crashing down.
Naruto slammed his foot into the blade as he yanked up on the handle, bending the sword into a vicious angle. Zabuza watched in stunned horror as Naruto bent, twisted and crushed his once-fearsome sword over and over again, until it had been reduced to little more than a large ball of metal on a stick. Naruto paused as the others gaped at his actions.
"Uh... Oops. I think I messed up." Naruto said, judging his handiwork. "Uh, Kakashi-sensei, is it ok that he now has a mace instead of a sword?" He asked, making his group sweat-drop.
"I think that will be fine, Naruto." Kakashi said, never taking his gaze off the enemy ninja.
"So... Does that mean I can keep it now?" Naruto asked hopefully.
If not for the very angry mist-nin in front of them, the rest of the group would have face-palmed.
"We can discuss weapon options when we return to Konoha." Kyaena grumbled at her host's comment.
"N-Naruto, this isn't the time for jokes.." Sakura was beginning to shake in fear from the growing threat in front of her.
"Boy..." Zabuza growled deep, "I don't know exactly how you did that... But when I get my hands on you... You will die in the slowest, most painful way that anyone has ever died in this world!" Zabuza shouted as his rage and KI hit hard, making Sakura and Tazuna to squeak in fear, and Sasuke to freeze up rigidly.
"Pft. Try telling me something that I haven't heard a thousand times before..." Naruto grumbled as he tossed the now useless former sword high and away. It landed about fifty feet to the right, thudding heavily as the ball of metal half-buried itself in the ground with the handle sticking up. "And don't think for a second that you have ANY hope of intimidating ME!" He glared at the much taller man.
It was interesting, for Naruto. It was the first time. The first time that he knew someone who didn't know him, that would still wish him harm, and it was ok for him to let it be known that he didn't appreciate it. So, when Naruto's attention focused on Zabuza, there was just the teeniest bit of built up pressure behind it. Add it to the tension already building up that was coming off of Zabuza and Kakashi, an you had one very hostile atmosphere. A little too hostile for some...
Tazuna was an old man. He'd been through a large majority of his life, and had seen and experienced plenty of his fair share. He'd even dealt with ninja before. So he had a reasonably tough skin when it came to certain matters. Not to say that he was completely immune, as his thumping heart indicated. And his habits involving alcohol didn't help any. The guy was lucky he didn't have a heart attack...
Sakura was not having fun. She had felt things were a little off from the beginning, when the half-drunk man had walked into the mission briefing room. And things were getting steadily worse. Ok, maybe not steadily worse so much as worse by leaps and bounds. She had been quite frightened during the first attack, facing actual enemy ninja from another village for the first time. They had even been dressed in a frightening fashion. But now she was experiencing something very different. The group wasn't even fighting yet and already she could feel more threat and danger crushing down on her than ever before. It was so much that part of her wanted to run away, find some rock to hide under while she cried her eyes out. But of course, then there was that other part of her, the part that had been growing in strength the past several months. The part that had been feeling what it was like to be a kunoichi of Konoha. The part that had been thanked by the people she had helped, even on the rather simple D-rank missions. The part of her that had seen how the younger children, especially the girls, looked at her as she walked down the street with her team. The part that wanted to prove her mother wrong about her not being ready for a C-rank mission. Ok, so it technically wasn't a C-rank anymore, but the principle was still there. She had managed to stand her ground before, despite her fear, so she knew she had to do so again. Even if she had absolutely no idea what to do, it wasn't as if she had any way out of it.
The last member of the group, was not having anywhere near the same thoughts as the others.
'This can't be happening...' Sasuke trembled with wide, horror filled eyes. 'So much energy... and it's all... blood-lust...' He didn't even seem to notice his own hand pulling a kunai from his holster. 'Elite jounin, intent to kill... It's... It's even worse than before... From him... That night... My life, being thrown into limbo... Trying to drive me mad!' His hands brought up the kunai, pointing it at his own stomach. 'NO! I can't bear it! I'd rather die!'
Before he could act, and rid the world of his own existence, a hand clamped down on his, preventing him from moving.
Sasuke looked up to see Naruto glaring at him with a frowning expression of annoyance.
"Remind me again... Who's the scaredy-cat?" Naruto whispered harshly, causing Sasuke to jerk slightly and break the fear, to be replaced by anger.
"He's far less than that, Naru-kun. And don't forget to rub this in his face later!" Kyaena grinned, baring her teeth in glee at seeing the Uchiha so weak.
"You're all a pathetic lot! I should skin you all and send your worthless corpses back to the Leaf Village!" Zabuza snarled.
"Forget it, Zabuza." Kakashi stated with a sharp determination. "I think you're now in a less than favorable position to be making threats. I think that if you try to press this matter, you'll loose. But... Just to be sure..." Kakashi's left hand came up to his head and took hold of his slanted Hitai-ate, "Don't want to take unnecessary chances. So I'll be using this..." He slowly pulled his Hitai-ate up to straighten it on his forehead. His now uncovered left eye was closed, and a very obvious scar ran straight down over it from above his eyebrow, to halfway down his cheek.
"Grrrr... That won't help you this time, Kakashi of the Sharingan." Zabuza snarled, as his stance shifted a bit, towards the water behind him...
'Sharingan!?' Sasuke, Naruto and Kyaena all thought with shock as Kakashi opened his eye, revealing the red and black orb.
"Everyone, take Manji defense formation! Protect Tazuna-san!" Kakashi ordered. "I may have an advantage against him now that he lost his favored weapon, but I want you all to stay out of this fight from here on!" He brought up his right hand with the kunai as he shifted his stance.
"I suppose I should consider it an honor that you would use the sharingan against me, but it's useless, Kakashi. When I was a member of Mist ANBU, you were listed in our bingo book." Zabuza growled out. His voice was just naturally menacing. "We had a standing order to destroy you on sight, you, the man who has copied a thousand jutsu."
As Zabuza was speaking, a mist was drifting in off the lake, starting to obscure the surroundings. But it went mostly unnoticed because four of the group were having distracting thoughts.
'...Wait a minute, the sharingan is the kekki-genkai that only appears in the few most elite members of the Uchiha clan. MY clan!' Sasuke realized. 'How could he... He couldn't...' Sasuke looked at Kakashi as an odd sensation was beginning to grip at his heart. 'Could he be... one of my clan?...'
'I'm beginning to think that this whole mess is only going to get worse and worse.' Tazuna worried. 'This seems to be a rather dysfunctional group... But... Since it's the best I could get, I can only hope Kami decides to favor this foolish old man...'
'What is going on?' Naruto thought as heated tension was pulling at his body. 'How the hell could he have one of those accursed eyes!? It's bad enough I have to put up with Sasuke, but at least with him there's a good chance he'll never gain that...' Naruto glared at the jounin as another possibility entered his mind. 'Wait... If he's been hiding this... What if he's...?' Naruto's eyes narrowed.
"As much as I hate to admit it, and I mean I REALLY hate to admit it, I don't think what your thinking is quite what we might think it to be." Kyaena growled, her claws slowly tearing at her 'anger pillow'. 'I knew it! I knew there was something about him that was off! These past couple months, I knew it couldn't be paranoia! It's HIM. THAT boy.' Kyaena hissed as her fur rippled. 'I had wondered what happened to him. I never bothered to check after it happened. And besides, it wasn't too much later that I had... other concerns.' She glanced around at her cage/room. 'I know you're not very happy with me, Arceus, but this is getting ridiculous! First Itachi, then Sasuke, now THIS!? I don't care what he might or might not feel about what happened then! If this half-souled bastard does anything to show that he's been tainted by their blood and tries to hurt Naru-kun or myself... then he will have to die along with the others.' Kyaena growled to herself as a tail reached over to the Kakashi doll she had sitting on a shelf against the wall of the cage, along with all the other dolls representing people in Naruto's life. The tip of her tail pulled up the doll's Hitai-ate, then pierced into the left eye. When the tail withdrew, the doll's eye had been replaced by a glowing red point of light. 'Hmm. Only one eye, and he's not an Uchiha by blood... Between that weak amount of energy, and the fact I'm trapped inside a seal made by Shinigami himself, I guess it's not all that much of a surprise that I couldn't sense it in him.' She thought sourly as a tiny pang of guilt touched her, having past memories brought up again...
Sakura was having slightly lighter thoughts than the others, having been jolted out of her terror from a few moments ago.
'Whoa, I didn't realize that Kakashi-sensei was so famous!' Sakura blinked with a bit of surprise and awe. But she was curious. "Hey, wait a minute! What's this 'sharingan' you keep talking about?" She asked. To her one side, Sasuke gave a small grunt.
"It's a type of-" Sasuke started to say.
"ENOUGH!" Zabuza snarled. "What had started as a minor task has become far too troublesome! First I will kill you, Kakashi, then the bridge builder," He grinned an unseen grin at Tazuna's panicked look, "And then I'll deal with you, blondie!" He snarled at Naruto as he leaped.
But he didn't leap forward towards Kakashi, he leapt backwards and positioned himself on the lake water, with one hand in a seal, the other arm pointing straight up.
"Didn't you guys hear me the first time!? I said Manji formation! Now!" Kakashi ordered. 'He's building up his chakra...' He kept both eyes on his opponent.
Sakura and Sasuke immediately rushed to stand next to Tazuna with kunai drawn, but Naruto was still standing where he was, glaring at Kakashi.
"We'll deal with that later, Naru-kun." Kyaena growled urgently. "For now, focus! This Zabuza character is a free-open enemy! This is what you've been training for!"
"Naruto, what are you doing!?" Sakura yelped, noting that the third member of her team wasn't in position. "Get over here!"
Kakashi's eye darted to Naruto just once as he tried to keep an eye on Zabuza, who was taking the initiative.
"Water Art, Hidden Mist Jutsu!" Zabuza declared as a mass spray of water and, you guessed it, mist, surged up around him and filled the air. The fog/mist in the area got thicker by the second, badly hindering sight as Zabuza vanished inside the grayness.
"Naruto!" Kakashi shouted with startled anger. "Follow my order! Get in position!"
"Excuse me Kakashi," Naruto spat, further shocking the man, "But I have a slightly different idea!" Naruto leapt backwards into the fog. "HYAA!"
FoofFoofFoofFoofFoofFoofFoofFoofFoofFoofFoofFoofFo ofFoofFoofFoof
The mass of white smoke that suddenly filled the air all over the area, mixed with the fog, making visibility for everyone absolutely zero.
"Naruto! Wha-?" Kakashi's hidden voice started to shout, angry and confused, wondering what Naruto was doing.
"Wind Art, Shockwave Jutsu!" Naruto's voice shouted out in the white blankness.
KAPAP-WHHOOOSHH
A single sudden burst of wind instantly hit everyone. It was pretty strong, but only so much as you could call a normal wind strong as you feel it hit you for the first time on a spring day. It didn't hurt anyone, just maybe made them flinch. The effect, however, was that in less than a second, the whole area was cleared of all fog and smoke.
Zabuza, now re-exposed in his position on the water, stared wide-eyed at what he saw in front of him now.
Dozens of Kakashi's, dozens of Naruto's, dozens of Sakuras, dozens of Tazunas, and dozens of Sasukes.
Everyone was looking around in surprise at everyone else.
"Naruto, what are you doing!?" One Kakashi demanded of the Naruto next to him.
"Just following example!" A Naruto from a different part of the crowd responded.
"If fighting in concealment was his choice-" A different Naruto started.
"-I thought it best to remove that option from his grasp!" Another Naruto finished.
"Do you even have a plan?" A different Kakashi from the first, asked randomly, not seeming to know which Naruto to address.
"Yep! SCATTER!" The Narutos shouted.
Groups rushed off in all directions, each group having one copy of each person. Although, if one were to bother noticing, in most of the groups, the Naruto was pulling/dragging the resisting/protesting Sasuke away by his backpack.
In barely a moment, the area was empty, save for Zabuza, and one very shocked looking Kakashi.
"Hmm. It would seem you have a very disobedient squad, Kakashi. Not to mention, an incredibly foolish one." Zabuza sneered out in a mocking tone as he slipped a kunai out of his left sleeve. These were thick sleeves from the wrists up to the mid-bicep, without a shirt to attach to. Only a light leather strap at either ends held the fabric in place.
"I told them to stay out of this fight, and that's what they did. I'll deal with my students in my own time, in my own way. Zabuza." Kakashi replied coldly, bringing up his kunai in ready stance.
"You won't be able to do anything. Except maybe haunt their families with them when you're all DEAD!" Zabuza snarled as he dashed forward off the water towards Kakashi.
Kakashi waited as Zabuza charged in closer. A little distance from his target, Zabuza jumped in a long low arc, throwing his kunai ahead as he twisted into a kick. Kakashi leaned back slightly as the kunai passed over his shoulder. As Zabuza came in for his kick, he too missed over Kakashi, who hadn't righted himself, but had just allowed himself to continue falling backwards.
With his one hand, Kakashi slashed up at the passing Zabuza with his kunai as his other hand went behind his back to catch himself on the ground. Zabuza arched over the blade as he landed on the other side of Kakashi, turning to strike again. But Kakashi had turned his back fall into a back-flip as he one-hand-standed, pivoting, landing a spinning kick to Zabuza's face. As Zabuza's upper body was twisted by the impact in one direction, he pivoted on one foot to bring a kick into the upside-down Kakashi's stomach.
The two were propelled a dozen or so feet apart from each other as they caught themselves, sliding to a stop, facing each other, both in a crouch.
Zabuza brought up a hand to feel at his jaw, as the other reached down and picked up his kunai that he had stopped right next to. Kakashi raised up into a standing ready stance again, patting a little dust off the front of his vest. When Zabuza stood again, taking his stance, Kakashi raised his left eyebrow.
"More taijutsu? What, aren't you going to try that mist jutsu again?" Kakashi asked in a semi-bored, half-curious tone.
"No. When I spotted your group at first, I intended to panic the runts into making a mistake to give me a better shot at the old has-been while you tried to get them under control." Zabuza growled as he began dashing to try to circle Kakashi, who also began dashing, circling Zabuza. So they were literally running in a circle. "But they just showed their inexperience, running away from an opponent that they even had out-numbered!" The mist-nin abruptly shifted out of his circle pattern to charge Kakashi again.
"Of course they're inexperienced, being only three months or so out of the academy!" Kakashi shot back, charging at Zabuza.
The two met head-on, the kunai in Kakashi's right hand, and Zabuza's left hand, clanging against each other as their opposite hands came together in a mercy-grip lock.
"Three months!?" Zabuza grunted in disbelief, trying to shove Kakashi back as their kunai scraped sparks against each other, and their hands quivered in a contest of force. "Either the Leaf Village's standards have gone up for cadets, or your trying to get them killed, bringing them on a mission against the likes of me!"
"Hey, it's not like I knew you were hanging around!" Kakashi almost sounded like he was trying to explain being caught with cookies in the middle of the night. "This was supposed to be a simple escort. Then those two puddle pansies show up and get everyone riled," He tried to yank Zabuza around, but the mist-nin kept his footing, "Then you come along, throwing that overgrown butter-spreader around so carelessly... Say," Kakashi eyed Zabuza warily, "With a sword that big... are you... compensating for something?"
"HATAKE! You-" Zabuza's eyes snapped wide.
STOMP-STOMP
Zabuza howled in pain from his now flattened feet as Kakashi took the opportunity of his distraction to yank again, throwing the slightly taller man over his shoulder to slam into the ground.
"The toe-crusher. It's old school, I know, but these past couple months, I've actually been rediscovering my respect for the basics ever since I took on my genin team." Kakashi eye-smiled in amusement as he watched Zabuza roll for a moment then jumping up, though he was now trying to balance on the balls of his feet.
"You..." Zabuza growled with ever increasing fury. "Do you think this is some kind of game!?"
Kakashi rubbed his chin in thought.
"Hmm. Well, if it is, you don't seem to know how to play very well, do you?" Kakashi said, but paused when a kunai touched under his throat.
"Do I?" A Zabuza behind Kakashi chuckled as the other one fell apart in a splash of water.
"So... A water clone?" Kakashi mused as the kunai pressed against his skin. "Well... Ok, if that's what we're playing now..."
"Then it's your mo-GRK!" Zabuza gave a jerk as a Kakashi behind him stabbed him with a kunai in the mid back through his spine, right between the kidneys.
Zabuza splashed away again as the other Kakashi disappeared with a quick burst of smoke.
"Are we going to be going around in circles all day?" Kakashi asked, looking around until he spotted Zabuza standing out on the lake water.
Zabuza was whipping through hand-signs quickly.
"I can't waste more time with this, as I have a bridge builder to kill! So let's get serious!" Zabuza said as he finished his hand-signs. "Water Art, Water Dragon Jutsu!"
Kakashi's eyes widened as the lake water began to churn and swell up. Even as the water rose higher and it began to take shape, Kakashi rushed forward. Zabuza blinked in slight confusion at his opponent's actions as the water dragon took it's form. The water targeted Kakashi as it began to rush forward, even as Kakashi took a running leap.
"It's adult swim now!" Kakashi called as he dove into the lake.
Zabuza's eyes narrowed as his water dragon crashed down onto the lake surface, making huge splashes and waves as it collided, but otherwise, showed no effect.
"Clever, Kakashi. Using the lake itself as a shield. But while clever, it was also foolish!" Zabuza rushed over to where Kakashi had submerged himself, but the mist-nin frowned as he looked back and forth, seeing no sign of the leaf-nin.
A pair of arms abruptly clamped around Zabuza's chest, pinning his arms.
"Lightning Art, Shock Burst Jutsu!" Kakashi announced from behind.
ZZZZZZRRRRRRRKKKKZZZZZRRRRRKKKK
"AAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHH!" Zabuza convulsed as the electricity rippled over his body. He thrashed, only to stumble as the Kakashi holding him vanished in smoke. He fell to catch himself as his hands splashed in the water. His chakra control slipped a bit as he sunk about two inches. With a grunt, Zabuza corrected himself, getting back on top of the water as he straightened up. "This... This is getting extremely annoying!" He snarled, trying to locate his opponent again as he fought to stop his twitching muscles.
"Maybe you should try less mercenary work, and more school work!" Kakashi's voice seemed to come from everywhere in a hundred directions. "I think you're trying a little too hard!"
"And I didn't realize that the 'supposedly great' Kakashi was such a chatterbox!" Zabuza shot back, as his head whipped left and right, trying to narrow down his enemy's location. "Have you no pride in your professionalism!?" He shouted, but went rigid as from out of all the surroundings, the bushes, the trees, even from up out of the water along the shore, emerged at least 300 Kakashis.
They all glared at the shirtless wonder as they raised their hands, revealing they all had four shuriken in each hand, making eight per Kakashi. Zabuza gulped as he faced down the 2400plus shuriken.
"Pride is of no use to a dead man." The Kakashis declared grimly as they threw their weapons.
"AH! Water Art, Aqua Cascade Barrier!" Zabuza made hand-signs as fast as he dared as the veritable wall of metal swarmed towards him. A cylinder of water raised up around him, then twisted and poured over and outward, causing a two layer up-down-flowing wall of water.
The shuriken barrage slammed into the water, trying to cut through, even as shuriken hit the back of other shuriken, pressing them forward. But it wasn't enough, as the mass of water stopped them all, washing them down into the depths of the lake as the water fell away.
"So now you're on the defensive." One of the hundreds of Kakashi's stated. "But I doubt you can keep going at this rate for very long." All the Kakashis started doing hand-signs, half of them using one pattern, the other half using a different pattern.
"No! I won't be driven into a corner over such a pitiful target as a bridge builder!" Zabuza rapidly started his own hand-signs. "But I will gladly take this chance to crush an infamous ninja such as yourself!"
The first half of Kakashi's finished their signs, and brought up one hand to their masked faces.
"Fire Art, Fireball Jutsu!" They expelled a multitude of fire masses towards Zabuza. How the fire left their mouths without burning through their masks...?
For a split second, Zabuza was wondering what they were up to, since they were enough of a distance from him that the fireballs would dissipate significantly in the damp air by the time they reached him, if at all. That thought was obliterated when the second half of the Kakashis finished their signs right behind the first half.
"Wind Art, Blast Wave Jutsu!" They announced as their extended arms came together in a sharp clap, the impact projecting out chakra enhanced bursts of directed wind of sufficient force that they tore at the ground in their path
The wind bursts came up behind, and pushed into, the fireballs. They flared up, hotter, brighter, and now faster as they were accelerated at a very worried Zabuza. But it wasn't in time, as Zabuza finally finished his long pattern of hand-signs.
"Now I've got you! Water Art, Waterfall Vortex Jutsu!" The assassin called out in triumph, as it seemed that half the lake suddenly erupted to life.
The water roared up, rotating and spinning into a massive swirling tidal wave of massive force that blasted out from Zabuza's position. Not only did it completely overwhelm the barrage of fireballs, it tore into the landscape, crushing through the Kakashis that were lost beneath its raging mass.
Zabuza pushed even more chakra into his jutsu than was required, since he kept it active for several moments longer than it was supposed to last as he directed the rushing water back and forth ever so slightly, trying to make sure he got all of his enemies even though he couldn't see to well through the very waters he was using to attack.
Finally, Zabuza was forced to end his assault, letting the waters start to settle. He had drained nearly a quarter of the entire lake from his efforts, though the splash damage was receding as water was draining back into the lake from all the damage to the surrounding area.
Zabuza was breathing hard as he gauged his handiwork. He had been forced to use three of his most chakra-consuming jutsu in the span of only minutes, something that had not happened to him in a while. But just as he began to think he had finally terminated his opponent...
"GAAAA-HHEEEEEEHUUUUUHHHH!" Kakashi's head popped up out of the waters just to Zabuza's right, gasping desperately for breath.
Zabuza was enraged beyond reason that the leaf-nin was still alive.
"NO! I will end this NOW!" Zabuza immediately moved over to stand above the startled, water-treading ninja, performing yet more hand-signs.
"Wha-, wait!" Kakashi started in vain as he barely managed to look up.
"Water Art, Water Prison Jutsu!" Zabuza thrust his right hand forward, and instantly, Kakashi was incased in a ball of water on top of the water with Zabuza standing next to him, his right hand gripping into the water sphere.
"What-, what is this!? I can't move!" Kakashi grunted as he seemed to strain in his suspended position. Zabuza let out a triumphant laugh.
"HAHAHAHAHA! So this is the end of your interference!" Zabuza seemed to relax slightly, even through his breathing was still very heavy as he was approaching exhaustion. 'This isn't good. At the rate I'm going, I'll only be able to hold this prison for a few minutes before I'm out. Maintaining it does take less chakra than to create it, but not by much...' He thought angrily. "Not that this hasn't been an exciting challenge, but I'm not being paid by the hour." Zabuza slipped a kunai out of his sleeve of his free arm, preparing to strike down his enemy. "And don't worry, I'll be sure to kill your students after I deal with the bridge builder. Wouldn't want them to live with the guilt of a failed mission, after all!" He chuckled maliciously. "And... I'm going to make sure that the fashion-deluded runt pays for ruining my precious sword. Oh yes, I'll kill him nice and slow..."
"I don't believe it will be as easy as you think." Kakashi stated at the man with a calm confidence that Zabuza didn't like at all.
"Oh? And why is that?" Zabuza's eyes narrowed as he raised up his kunai...
"HEY YOU! THE FREAK WITH NO EYEBROWS!" Came a vicious shout.
Zabuza turned to look to his left to see the orange-clad Naruto up on the bank, looking seriously pissed, and was spinning a windmill shuriken on his right hand.
"Well well, this is convenient." Zabuza chuckled between pants. "You've saved me the trouble of hunting you down after I deal with Kakashi."
Whatever humor Zabuza found in the situation, Naruto did not share it.
"First Kyaena-chan, then Iruka-sensei, and now... ... I... am getting tired... OF PEOPLE ALWAYS TRYING TO KILL MY SENSEIS!" Naruto shouted out his rage as he spun his shuriken even faster. "I tried playing soft, but you don't want it soft, do you!? You want to play hard! SO LETS PLAY HARD! I'LL BLOW YOU ALL THE WAY BACK TO KIRI!" Naruto hurled the shuriken, and it had barely left his grip as he snapped through several hand-signs. "Ninja Art, Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Zabuza's eyes widened in shock as the one large shuriken multiplied into a hundred large shuriken.
"You crazy brat! You're going to kill your sensei yoursel-" Zabuza gave a start when he heard a gurgle. His head whipped around to look at his water prison, but instead of Kakashi, suspended in it was just a whitish cloud of liquidized smoke. 'Another clone!? But that means...' Zabuza didn't even have time to release his jutsu as he turned back to see the rapidly approaching blades. "NOOOOOOO!"
Naruto shifted his hands to the ram sign.
"DETONATE!" Naruto cried.
Windmill shuriken. Four, heavy duty, single edged blades. One explosive tag attached to the flat of each blade. Four per shuriken, times one hundred shuriken...
Oh yeah. That's a big boom.
Naruto held his arms in front of himself, bracing against the massive explosions. Shrapnel from the destroyed shuriken flew in every direction, and Naruto gave a grunt as several pieces hit him, though thankfully they only bounced off without doing more than scratching at his cloths.
"BEAUTIFUL!" Kyaena squealed, hopping up and down with excitement. "You got him! You got him! I knew you could do it! THAT is the true result of your training, Naru-kun!"
As the blasts and flames of the explosions died down, Naruto straightened up, looking to where his enemy had been. And he knew he was an enemy, and that to protect his team, he had to be eliminated.
'It's strange... I wonder why I'm not feeling bad about killing him?' Naruto thought as the smoke from the bombs was beginning to clear.
"Because there is no reason to regret the choice that HE had made. Ninja fight and kill and die. He knew that as well as you do. If he died the way he chose to live, then there is nothing for you to feel bad about." Kyaena replied as she cleaned one of her paws. "In a sense, you gave him an honorable death."
'Maybe... But it's still-... What?' Naruto stopped as he blinked at the sight in front of him.
Zabuza was struggling to pull himself out of the water onto the bank. The water around him was turning red from the blood seeping from his wounds. He had several burns over his body. His sleeves were ripped and charred. Even the bandage mask on his face was singed, though the water of the lake had probably saved him from the worst of that. But whereas Naruto had escaped injury from the shuriken shrapnel, Zabuza was not as fortunate. There were several obvious shards of broken metal sticking out of him, as blood leaked from the wounds into the water.
"What..." Zabuza groaned as he wobbly forced himself to his feet. "What are you...? I haven't known a kid as brutal as you since... myself!" He stared at Naruto with shock, and even a little fear.
"Grrr! So THAT'S why I wasn't feeling bad about killing you! YOU'RE NOT DEAD YET!" Naruto shouted in frustration, then began a new, very special pattern of hand-signs. "Well I'll finish you for sure this time! I've been itching to try this jutsu out for weeks!" He gave a nasty, foxish grin as his hands finished, stopped on the tiger sign. "FIRE ART," Naruto began inhaling a huge breath as his hands came up to in front of his face, fingers splayed as faint lines of red chakra criss-crossed between his fingertips like a web. But before he could continue, a sudden mass of pain assaulted Naruto's senses as senbon stuck all over the left side of his body. Up his left leg, his side, and all down his left arm. 'Arrrgghh! What the hell!? Where did those come from!?' Naruto winced at the pain, fighting to stay upright.
"Deal with that in a second! Finish the jutsu before you loose the chakra flow!" Kyaena growled in anger as she tried to sense any KI from around Naruto, but didn't feel anything.
Naruto forced through the pain as he aimed on Zabuza.
"-HELLGATE FIRESTORM JUTSU!" His hands were still positioned in front of his face...
... And he exhaled.
Some distance from the initial encounter spot, squad seven was hurrying through the thin woods. Kakashi was carrying Tazuna on his back, with Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke running in front of him.
"You jerk! Why the hell did you drag us away from the fight!?" Sasuke demanded to Naruto.
"Well, considering how you were acting back there, it seemed like a good idea!" Naruto stuck his tongue out at his companion.
"You miserable-" Sasuke started to snarl, when their other teammate interjected.
"Sasuke-kun, go easy on him! You saw how dangerous that ninja was! Naruto's clones might have just saved our lives!" Sakura stated in an attempt to keep things from getting out of hand. But she had to look away when Naruto gave her a smile.
"Naruto, I'm EXTREMELY disappointed in you!" Kakashi announced with a somewhat harsh tone. His Hitai-ate had been pulled back down over his eye.
"Yeah, well, that makes two of us!" Naruto snapped back as he jumped over a log.
"Do you have any idea how much trouble you could get into for disobeying my orders!?" Kakashi tried to glare at the back of the boy's head, but another thought was distracting him. 'What happened!? I thought I had earned Naruto's respect, but now it seems to be gone again!'
"I thought dying was considered about as bad as it gets! So anything less would be a good trade off!" Naruto quipped, still not looking back.
"But Naruto, you should have at least given us a little more warning! If you hadn't grabbed us, I wouldn't have known which ones were the real us!" Sakura stated with some subdued annoyance.
"Enough! We don't have time to argue about this right now! Naruto's clones will barely buy us a few minutes, if that!" Kakashi shouted. "We need to find a spot that we can-"
"Actually, since that Zabuza guy isn't following us already, he must have his hands full." Naruto chuckled, as if he had some private joke...
"Don't be so cocky, Naruto!" Kakashi shouted, getting more worried by the second. "Zabuza will tear through the clones like they're nothing!"
"Then I guess it's a good thing that they're not the only thing he's up against..." Naruto chuckled again.
"What?" Kakashi blinked, VERY alarmed by the statement. "Naruto, what are you talking about!? Give me a straight answer!"
"A straight answer?" Naruto looked back at Kakashi with a skeptically raised eyebrow. "On this team? That's a bit of a stretch, isn't it?" He shook his head as he turned his attention back forward to see were he was going.
"Damn it Naruto! Answer me! What did you mean by what you said!?" Kakashi reached forward to grab Naruto's backpack, but it threw Naruto off balance...
"Hey! Leggo! You're going to make me-WAK!" Naruto tripped, fell forward, and hit his head on a rock...
POOF
The others all skidded to an abrupt stop, wide-eyed at the disappearing smoke.
"W-wait a minute..." Sakura blinked, looking back and forth. "That... That was a clone?"
BONK-BONK
"OW!" Sakura and Sasuke both grabbed their heads from Kakashi hitting them.
"Kakashi-sensei, what was that for!?" Sakura whined in pain.
"Hey, what's going on? Why-AH!" Tazuna gave a yelp as Kakashi dropped him to the ground.
"STAY WITH TAZUNA! THAT'S AN ORDER!" Kakashi yelled with such viciousness that the two genin could only nod rapidly as the jounin turned around and began running back the way they came as fast as he could.
As Kakashi ran, he uncovered his sharingan eye once more. His heart was pounding in terror as he didn't want to believe the truth that he had just realized.
Naruto had stayed behind to fight Zabuza alone.
Kakashi had left behind one of his students...
... And hadn't even realized it.
END OF CHAPTER
Author's Notes:
Yay! I passed 300 reviews!
Well, for you people who were hoping for a little more action, here you go. With the way I did this fight, I think I actually cut out two or three chapters/episodes from the canon manga/anime, since I didn't bother with all the explanations and flashbacks. Seriously, as I was watching my DVD's and checking my books, it was a little awkward to see so much going on that had nothing to do with the fight. Since I'm fairly sure most of you readers already know plenty about the Naruto timeline and events, I saw no reason to bore you with these particular details... this time. I'm not sure how things will go in future chapters, but I'll try to always throw in some things to be funny or hold your interest. This also accounts for why this chapter is a bit shorter, and why I managed to get it done a bit quicker. But I doubt any of you will mind.
For those of you who pointed it out, I fixed the Fox/Cat/Dog thing in the previous chapter. But it was only to smooth things out. I've seen lots of stories where people give the Kyuubi traits that are quite feline in nature, and I think I've already done so in this story as well. But it really doesn't matter that much. If you really need a reason, just remember, demons don't fall into conventional categories. Ok?
It's a little interesting isn't it? Kakashi gained a bit of Naruto's respect/trust, then lost it again. But how and why? That's something for you to consider. (grins)
I hope you liked the bit I did with the rabbit. I couldn't resist. (laughs)
Of the canon details I did keep in this chapter, the one and most important thing I refused to cut, was the Sasuke almost-suicide because he was so damn scared. It's such a stupid thing for Sasuke to be so condescending to others, to go on and on about his revenge and all that, only to try to kill himself in the first real dangerous situation he faces. I think it shows just how weak he really is.
And on the subject of Sasuke, I have been getting a few people saying I'm bashing him a bit to much. Making him to much a jerk. Truthfully, I don't think I've deviated from Sasuke's canon attitude, it's just that events have accelerated his state of mind. Please consider: In canon, Sasuke and Naruto had butted heads all throughout their time at the academy, with Naruto always pestering Sasuke and trying to prove himself against him. THIS DID NOT HAPPEN in my story! They did not meet face to face until their last year at the academy. By then, Sasuke's attitude would probably have decayed slightly, not having someone to constantly challenge and stand up to him. Let's face it, everyone else seemed to stay out of his way. Most of the girls thinking he was perfect, and most of the boys, even ones like Kiba, a little nervous to take on 'the last Uchiha'. Either they did think he was that good, or maybe they didn't want to get in trouble for picking a fight with him. Whatever relationship Sasuke and Naruto might have developed in canon, it hasn't happened in my story. So there is no 'brotherhood' thing going on between them. Also, don't forget, that Kyaena's opinion affects Naruto's opinion. Then there is the point, that in canon, Sasuke basically ignored Naruto, brushing him off as unimportant for a while. The reason: Sasuke thought, or rather, he was completely sure, that Naruto was weak. By the time the chunin exams were well under way, when Naruto was beginning to show that his strength was increasing, even when he still only knew a few basic jutsu, THAT was when Sasuke really started resenting him. I think it has to do with, while Sasuke knew that older ninja were more powerful than him, he had believed himself to be the strongest of his age group. And starting to see that it wasn't the case, really bugged him. So if seeing Naruto's strength was what set him off, then because, in my story, Naruto is showing that strength already, then Sasuke would also begin reacting to it as well. So I'm not entirely sure how things will progress later, but it's a pretty good bet that Sasuke is going to be getting worse. Remember, the original writer made Sasuke this way. So I don't think I can be faulted for keeping him that way. I'm hoping to make this the last time I have to explain out my reasoning behind how I portray Sasuke in my story.
I think I've covered what I need to for this chapter. The rest is for you to keep pondering.
To the next batch of reviews:
Sociopathic-Antichrist: I have to admit, someone that has a username like yours, liking my story... makes me nervous. But besides that, yes, the extra elements I added will hopefully come into play much later in the story. And I believe those extra five elements do make a kind of sense if you think about how they fit into the world. And try not to wig out about what Naruto did in this chapter. I have my reasons. Yes, the kunai will have it's own thing. I think it will amuse readers. As for the pairings... I'm afraid you'll have to wait and see. But I think you'll like it by the END of the Wave Arc.
LemonySean: If a major event happened to you, wouldn't you give it some thought? I would. So I think the characters would also.
Weasel Fu: Is your username anything like Skunk-Fu? Oh, never mind. To your concern about how to knock some sense into Kakashi, I'm sure this mission will do so... or rather, the consequences that follow will. And I do hope to keep Sakura's mother involved from time to time. You're right, Sakura is the only one on the team with family. I see it making sense that her mother would want to know about how her daughter's career is going. As for Sasuke, see above.
Alchemist Astrid: Your favorite Naruto story of all? I haven't even finished the Wave Arc yet! I wonder how you'll react when I'm moving through the chunin exams...
ConnectFire611: Allow me to clarify. Kakashi had never gotten involved with Naruto or Sakura before being assigned with the team. He only knew second hand information to base his opinions on. But then he started to get to know them, and his opinion changed accordingly. Kakashi doesn't think Naruto is 'THE' smart one, but he is glad that he's not a complete idiot (like canon). And besides, trying to suck up to Naruto from time to time might just help him get into Kyaena's good graces... Or not. Who knows? Besides me that is...
Summon Boss: Sorry about the confusion on the name of Zabuza's sword. I've switched it to the english version to avoid further misunderstanding. But then again, since it was destroyed in this chapter... Does it matter? (snickers)
Fritter: Naruto didn't fall for the reverse psychology, he just was just humoring Sakura and Kyaena.
Aidis: So, was this different enough for you? And yet not entirely different... But after this will definitely get complicated.
Doctor Yami: Like for Aidis, I hope I managed to speed things up a bit for you. Obviously, Kakashi and Naruto are going to be having a 'talk' in the next chapter. Plot development and all that. (shrugs)
Xonseru: You once waited 5 years, 7 months and 2 days for an update!? You are the god of patience! That is so totally, totally awesome!
Dragon Man 180: A Kyuubi/Iruka pairing? I don't think I've ever seen anyone do that before. Interesting.
Keigai O Yain: (slowly grins evilly) You know... I think that you and me are going to be having some interesting battles of wits during the course of my story. And I think I might try to make more polls in the future (one after another), just to try to burn your brain. (laughs manically)
zeynel: You make a good point about the people finding out/discussing Naruto's academy qualifications. I'll be making use of that later. Thanks.
Akitesyu: Excuse me, I'm not quite sure what you mean by story-in-story. I'm trying hard enough just keeping my own plot planning straight. I'm not sure trying to add a secondary storyline will be a very good idea. And the wind genjutsu is a good idea, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to find a way to stick it into my story. We'll see.
Kyuubi123: Again with the pairings. Well, I'll say this, if you can last until after the bridge fight, I think you'll be a bit more pleased in regards to Sakura.
InARealPickle: I'm sorry for making you cry (chap 7), and I hope that future chapters will satisfy your desire for something a bit different from canon. But remember, canon will always be my base. So yes, I will be keeping a fair amount of it in line, and yes, I'll continue to dress it up, or flesh it out, or however you want to say it.
The Unicorn: The part about Naruto freezing up has a reason. It was not forced. It will be explained in time. As will the reason Naruto didn't realize things with the puddle.
filly8: You read my reasoning for Sasuke? Good. I hope it's not a problem. (shrugs)
PumpkinLordAuran: Aw, nuts! You'd give me money? To bad that fanfiction is required to be free... (snaps fingers)
Thanks to all those who read, extra thanks to those that review, and royal thanks to those that enjoy.
Thank you all for your attention, time, and most of all, patience!
This chapter edited:
5-21-2013
